The Problem of Tribal Nomenclature
The first mention of the tribe occurs in the works of Ptolemy in the 2nd century A.D.:
- "From these¹ toward the east are the Cornavi, among whom are the towns: Deva,² Legio XX Victrix 17*30 56°45, Viroconium³ 16*45 55°45." (Ptolemy Geographia II.ii)
The name may mean "People of the Horn". Graham Webster in The Cornovii (1991) cites Anne Ross's hypothesis that the tribal name(s) may be totemic cult-names referring to a "horned god" cult followed by the tribe(s). There is no direct evidence of this; however, Webster points out that it is interesting that at Abbot's Bromley the "horn dance" has survived from pagan ritual—Abbot's Bromley being only 55 km north east of the old tribal centre at Wroxeter (Virconium Cornoviorum). In addition, Webster quotes Professor Charles Thomas as having made a "good case" for such totemic ethnonyms in Scotland.
Read more about this topic: Cornovii (Midlands)
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